Cafes close over cholera fears

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]Doctor K. T. Sivapalan, Deputy Director of Health for the Jaffna District, has told health inspectors to take all precautions necessary to arrest the spread of cholera in Jaffna.

He said that eating houses and cafes that do not maintain high standards of hygiene should be closed.

The outbreak of cholera has also been detected in Vavuniya and Mannar where large numbers displace people are staying in various welfare centres.

Health officials in Vavuniya said they were very concerned about the out break of cholera in the overcrowded camps.

They said that they were taking immediate steps to prevent the disease being spread further.

Meanwhile the Liberation Tigers said recently in a press release issued from their International secretariet that the Tamil Eelam health service has taken emergency measures to prevent the outbreak of cholera in Vanni, and has stopped the movement of people and goods into the Vanni from army controlled areas.

"A man who contracted the disease in army controlled Vavuniya had died in Puthukudiyiruppu hospital in Vanni on July 2. Seven other people are affected by cholera in Puthukudiyiruppu", the statement said further.